Review: Perfect Arrangement at Silver Spring Stage

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This past weekend I went to Silver Spring Stage to see the play Perfect Arrangement. At first I wasn't sure if this would be an offensive or distasteful show because of the Goldstar summary:

Silver Spring Stage transports audiences back to 1950’s Washington, D.C., for Topher Payne’s award-winning comedy/drama of two ideal “All-American” couples who are actually gay with a perfect arrangement of each other’s spouses. 

But the show is actually the opposite! Two lesbians (played by Maryanne Henderson and Emma Wesslund) pretend to have husbands who in reality are two gay men in their own relationship (Nicholas Temple and Brian E. Wright). The two couples have made this arrangement so that they can continue with "normal" lives, but have their own, true-love relationships behind closed doors. We learn that they have lived in this scenario for several years, but it all starts to fall apart when the government starts a witch-hunt to remove homosexuals and other "immoral" people from the ranks. In the end, three of the four of them join the movement to fight for the rights of homosexuals and to stop hiding their real identities. Honestly, the most offensive parts of the play are when the boss of a government department (played by Greg Garcia) talks down to women (saying things like " the little woman," etc.) and the others just have to play along with it.

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The on-stage chemistry was so good between the actors! I was impressed by them individually (and had seen Wesslund and Temple before in The Importance of Being Earnest last year; read that blog post here), but they were even better together. The show did hire an intimacy choreographer, Emily Sucher, from Intimacy Director International, which I had never heard of (the organization or that role in production). She spoke after the show, and it was interesting to hear her talk about her work. She works with actors to make sure there is consent between them (use the acronym FRIES), and helps choreograph the intimate scenes so that they are believable and fit the story, but also are completely comfortable for the actors. She did a great job, as did the performers, because I totally bought their love for each other!

I definitely recommend this play. Along with the important story it tells and the wonderful acting, it's also just a beautiful play to watch. The set is complete with mid-century furniture, and the costumes are definitely on-point for the 1950's. I also love this theater because the setting is very intimate; there's not a bad seat in the house!

You can still purchase tickets on Goldstar for this Friday's show! Don't wait!

Here are two other reviews about this show:
https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2020/02/22/perfect-arrangement-silver-spring-stage-explores-perfect-present-future-dreams/

https://mdtheatreguide.com/2020/02/theatre-review-perfect-arrangement-at-silver-spring-stage/